>> Monday, May 2, 2011

I'm sure I've mentioned a few times that I'm a bit of a pack rat. I save scraps of leather that are too small for book covers. I find ways to make even the tiniest bits of paper useful. And I even save pieces of leftover thread.

I hate the feeling of running out of thread just as I'm about to finish the binding of a Coptic journal or a Japanese stab bound photo album. And it's so much easier to tie a final knot to complete a book when you have some extra thread to work with. So I usually cut a bit more thread than I'll need when working on a more complex binding. But as a result, I'm left with short -- but still potentially useful -- pieces of thread. I've been saving these bits of thread for months in a colorful nest-like pile thinking they'd be perfect for sewing little pamphlet books, and this weekend I dove into my stash and made a bunch of new booklets.

Each of the books has a different decorative paper for the cover (all coming from my box full of leftover papers, of course). You might recognize some of these papers from previous custom orders or books in my etsy shop. These little books are perfectly pocket-sized, and small enough to fit inside an envelope to send to a friend as a little "just because" gift. I'll be bringing all of these little pamphlet books with me to Athens, GA this weekend for the Athens Indie Craftstravaganzaa. And soon I'll be selling them in my etsy shop in little color-coordinated bundles.

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comments:

Love the picture of all the spines of the books all together. So colourful and pretty. The pamphlet book idea out of scraps is a good one. I was wondering what to do with all my little bits of thread and smaller pieces of paper too. I am also a pack rat. I did actually once run out of thread making a coptic book and had to actually remove 2 signatures in order to finish it properly. Never again!

I've run out of thread when binding Coptic books before too, and it's so frustrating. There's actually a way to tie on an extra piece of thread if you do run out, but I always try to avoid that if I can because I'd rather not have extra knots in my books.

Katie Gonzalez

I'm a cardigan-wearing bookbinder living and working in Nashville, Tennessee with my husband and my dog. I studied the art of bookmaking in Cortona, Italy during the summer of 2006. My work channels traditional techniques into bright, contemporary books that emphasize textures, colors, and patterns. Archival materials make these books — whether journals, photo albums, guest books, or sculptural expressions — into long-lasting works of art. I want to share my works in progress and the photography, sewing, printmaking, and other arts that inspire me.